Archive for May 23rd, 2008

Johann Heinrich Friedrich Karl Witte (born July 1, 1800 in Lochau; died March 6, 1883 in Halle) was a German jurist and Dante Alighieri scholar. He was the son of a pastor who encouraged a fairly intense program of learning. His father believed that the intelligence of children is not hereditary, but results from education which should begin between birth and the age of 6. So he began the education of his son when he was a few months old. He taught him reading and writing. Little Karl Witte could read and write German and Latin at age 6. Later, he learned French. Within less than one year, he could read easy French books. After that he learned Greek. He could read Greek books within less than 6 months. By the time he was 8 years old he had learned many languages: German, Latin, French, Italian, English and Greek. He studied at Leipzig University at age 10, got his Doctorate of philosophy degree at age 12, and got a doctorate degree in law at age 16, and became a professor at Berlin University